outdated technology

[Forrest747]

Kids were helping clean up after Christmas when they came accross my old Dell X50V pda. It was the best one I ever owed and the envy of a few friends. Then smart phones came and to be honest I haven't ised it much since 2009. So was thonking what to do with it. Give it to one of the kids. Their smartphones are better. I can just throw it away. If I had thought about it I could of made it the garage mp3 player instead of the ipod. Or do I just put it back on the shelf and let it collect dust.

[rmclarke]

Or do I just put it back on the shelf and let it collect dust.

That's usually what I do.

Makes you think about all the new, shiny tech toys we have now and what they'll look like in a few years, doesn't it?

[Corwin C]

I have a Palm 515 and a Palm V|X receiving the same treatment...

[Verna]

Well.....here's what I did to my Palm a couple of years ago. Daddy insisted that I smash his two hard drives from his old PC. I tried to explain that a magnet would pretty much render his data useless. No go.

So, I used his 10 lb sledge hammer (oh that thing is heavy!!!). I put the hard drives and my Palm on the bricks of his patio. Two smashes each for the hard drive and one for the Palm. Then I spent about 5 minutes picking up the pieces. And he spent a couple of hours the next day replacing the two bricks I broke

Daddy was happy and I've never had a request to smash any more electronics for him.

[Treeview]

If you do trash hard drives be sure to save the magnets. The rare earth magnets have lots of uses.

A better way to recycle old tech is to get them to Goodwill. They have a refurb program if that makes sense...or...they wipe the hard drives if you haven't and recycle the waste.

In some cities, like Austin here, they have a separate tech store with old computer gear. Super cheap too!

Tom

[john warren]

lol i have a working timex sinclare 1000.
was a compuiter sold in the back of mechanix ilustrated back in the 60's

you hooked it to the antenna of your television and the programing cam on casset tapes that you played on the included tape recorder.
now thats outdated tech for you.

there is even a nationwide club for those nuts that still have them.

[jstrubberg]

I have TWO Palm TX's gathering dust. Still one of the best ebook readers I've used. If it weren't for the terrible battery life, I never would have shelved them.

[Aaron Coffee]

If you do trash hard drives be sure to save the magnets. The rare earth magnets have lots of uses.

A better way to recycle old tech is to get them to Goodwill. They have a refurb program if that makes sense...or...they wipe the hard drives if you haven't and recycle the waste.

In some cities, like Austin here, they have a separate tech store with old computer gear. Super cheap too!

Tom

We had a couple of magnets out of a hard drive at work, I could put one on each side of my hand and they would hold there, someone decided to one up me and put one in there mouth and one on the outside of their cheek, they had to slide the magnets along their cheek to get the one out of their mouth.

[Mightydog]

[This space reserved for iPad]

[GerryS]

If you do trash hard drives be sure to save the magnets. The rare earth magnets have lots of uses.

Hard drives would be destroyed physically....

The drive platters make beautiful windchimes....

[Boodro]

Magnets do NOTHING to a hardrive! I used an eletro mag that was used to erase video tapes & placed it on a hdd for 20 minutes , put it back in the computer , booted just fine. I also have pounded a hdd whiles its booting up with no issues. I took one out & pounded it on the counter as hard as I could , put it back in the comp & it worked just fine also. I found the best way to kill qa drive ,,, NAIL GUN!!! drives a big nail thru the platter no boot!!! The mags in the drive are fun to play with, & yes the platter is VERY shiny. Or use them for target practice with a big gun.

[alex k]

how to kill a hard drive ... a few rounds of 38 cal camo
very theraputic too

[jstrubberg]

Erm, I just wipe em.

I guess the other methods are cheaper than therapy, though.

[Forrest747]

To quote Jamie from Mythbusters... "When in doubt C4"


I was looking for a set of mototrola radios to lend to a freind and cam across my old Sony Clie, now that is old.

[rowerwet]

hey I still drag out the original game boy and games, it's the original version only with the clear plastic so you can see all the gizmos inside. that tiny dot matrix screen is so fun to stare at for hours....